Intensive green terrace – a ZEN Japanese garden – Neorama residential complex, Brașov

We had the honor to be involved from the design phase in creating a truly ZEN relaxation area: a ZEN garden built as a green terrace, or an intensive green roof, as some prefer to call it.

We can only quote the developers from Tecton Trust:

“Just as the Hanging Gardens of Semiramis in Babylon were counted among the 7 wonders of the ancient world, we hope that the Zen garden we are developing on the 1st floor, on the immense terrace of the Neorama building, will become one of the wonders of Brașov. The idea we started from was to create a natural space, an oasis of peace, relaxation, and contemplation, right next to the Neorama offices.

We collaborated with Odu Green Roof, the best specialists in the field, and thus Neorama Zen Garden was born – a Zen garden that preserves the spirit of traditional Japanese gardens, yet is created exclusively from local elements, from vegetation to the decorative volcanic tuff stones sourced directly from the quarry in Racoș.

We can hardly wait to rake the gravel around the volcanic rocks, sit down on the wooden benches, and reflect on our beginnings, when we embarked on the Neorama adventure.”

The generous allocated budget, along with the proper technique for stabilizing mature trees of 5–7 meters, made it possible to create a suspended garden with a coherent appearance – almost a reproach to real estate developers who build mere simulations of green roofs just to comply with construction permits, treating this solution as a necessary evil in order to fit within the relatively small building coverage ratio.

The work of 7 people over 10 days, doubled by hundreds of hours spent with the developers at Tecton Trust in endless discussions to find a simple yet impressive solution, repeated consultations to optimize the solutions, and the heartfelt involvement of landscape architect Patka Zsuzsa Kincső, laureate of international competitions (Le Notre Institute), all contributed to the realization of a representative project that certainly helps ensure a balanced lifestyle for the residents of Neorama.

No aspect was left to chance; sun exposure studies were carried out so that each resting and meditation area would benefit alternately from shade and sunlight.

This Zen garden stimulates the creativity of the specialists at Tecton Trust, who have also relocated their offices to this representative central location.

It is an emblematic project of real estate development, rarely encountered on the market in the rush for profit. Here, quality and people, as well as the environment, were placed first (carefully selected, environmentally friendly materials, charging stations, Play-bike relocating its shop here on the ground floor).

We thank the management of Tecton Trust for the pleasure of collaborating on this project.
Common sense, the desire to create something beautiful, and respect for one’s word formed the basis of this collaboration, which motivated us to find the best solutions within the given budget to create an oasis of peace and ZEN contemplation.